Role in IT decision-making process:Align Business & IT GoalsCreate IT StrategyDetermine IT NeedsManage Vendor RelationshipsEvaluate/Specify Brands or VendorsOther RoleAuthorize PurchasesNot Involved

Work Phone:

Company:

Company Size:

Industry:

Street Address

City:

Zip/postal code

State/Province:

Country:

Occasionally, we send subscribers special offers from select partners. Would you like to receive these special partner offers via e-mail?YesNo

Your registration with Eweek will include the following free email newsletter(s):News & Views

By submitting your wireless number, you agree that eWEEK, its related properties, and vendor partners providing content you view may contact you using contact center technology. Your consent is not required to view content or use site features.

By clicking on the "Register" button below, I agree that I have carefully read the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy and I agree to be legally bound by all such terms.

Microsoft Zeros In on Lotus

A cadre of former Lotus software employees is leading a reinvigorated push at Microsoft Corp. to lure Lotus customers to .Net with new products and services.

A cadre of former Lotus software employees is leading a reinvigorated push at Microsoft Corp. to lure Lotus customers to .Net with new products and services.

Over the next six to eight months, the Redmond, Wash., company plans to roll out a series of initiatives, including a tool kit, due this summer, that allows Domino developers to create Notes- and Domino-based Web services using Microsoft development tools such as Visual Studio .Net and Visual Basic.

The effort is the latest by Microsoft to seize what some view as an opportunity left open by the IBM division, based in Cambridge, Mass., as it nudges Lotus developers to Lotus Workplace—an IBM WebSphere-based development platform. Lotus introduced the platform a year ago.

"Given IBMs strategy for Workplace, a lot of Lotus customers are going to be taking advantage of the opportunity to re-evaluate their investments," said Jim Bernardo, lead product manager for Microsoft Exchange.

Further reading

To bring the effort to life, Microsoft has beefed up its ranks with former Lotus officials. Gary Devendorf, a technology evangelist in Microsofts server division and former application development product manager at Lotus, and Charlie Kaufman, security architect for Microsofts Common Language Runtime group, joined Microsoft in the past year. Kaufman was chief security architect for Lotus Notes.

According to Bernardo, who was a 10-year Lotus veteran before joining Microsoft four years ago, nearly all members of the former Domino.Workflow team are employed by Microsoft.

The as-yet-unnamed tool kit is being shepherded by Devendorf, who said that once a developer creates the .Net Web services, they will be consumed by Microsoft applications such as the Office suite, SharePoint and Exchange.